No Zelda for 3DS Launch

Peter Chapman 14 Comments

Speaking in an interview with MTV, Reggie Fils-Aime has let it be known that the 3DS launch line up will not only be missing a bit of Mario, it will be missing the pulling power of Link too with Zelda: Ocarina of Time scheduled for the second wave of software releases. That’s two of Nintendo’s biggest draws which will be on the bench for the big handheld launch window. Kid Icarus: Uprising is also set to miss the launch day with its release looking likely for the second wave of titles.

When quizzed on the absence of ubiquitous Nintendo system sellers, Reggie said

From our perspective, we like to launch titles when they’re ready. And so they’ll be ready, they’ll be ready soon. Just not in that initial time period of late March to early June.

This might seem odd from a company that seems to have built its business around a few highly successful core franchises which it keeps iterating on. As pointed out by Nintendo’s US boss, there will still be a few heavy hitters in the launch window with Pilotwings on schedule to make it and Nintendogs + Cats sure to be a massive draw for millions of DS owners looking to upgrade.

Will we see more original titles step into the limelight? Steel Diver is certainly looking good and the 3rd party titles shown (Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid) are looking very tempting indeed so perhaps we’ll witness a successful Nintendo system that doesn’t rely so strongly on its historical core franchises?

Source: MTV

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14 Comments

  1. They don’t need to rely on those guys for any longer. Its time for Nintendo to introduce new characters to enter the spotlight!!

    • I 2nd that. Nintendo needs some new blood. Although Pikmin wasn’t that good in my opinon..

      • I found Pikmin really addictive! Nice to hear they aren’t rushing the titles though.

    • I kind of agree, I’d love to see more new stuff coming out of Nintendo but then I do love me some Mario…

    • but… Zelda is the best game ever made.
      :(

  2. Damn, at least it won’t get in my way of finishing Uni now!
    And it’ll actually be finished and not rushed. Woo.

  3. tears.

  4. well there is pokemon out just a couple of weeks before.. im thinking of buying the game and then waiting to play it on my 3DS… no its not in 3D but none of the launch titles appeal to me, it seems as though nintendo is just catering for the causal market… i mean 3 nitendogs titles for launch????

  5. They need new blood but we all know they’ll never let go…

  6. Seems to me they should have just delayed the 3DS launch until the second wave of launch titles. I’m all for new great Nintendo characters but just stick with the old ones until you actually came up with anything new.

  7. A 3DS entry into the Mario Galaxy franchise would be so good.

  8. … Bummer. Was kind of on the fence for a launch purchase. Now I’m not, I hopped off the side with a sign that says ‘No Deal’.

  9. This is a bit of a killer for me, if Zelda was released on lauch then I probably would put my cash down now. Still I guess MGS and Pokemon should keep me enticed for a few weeks.

  10. Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, theses are games that i need when i buy a new Nintendo console.
    which is the exact reason why ill wait till the second wave.

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